MFA: Belarus needs to develop roadmaps for cooperation with Africa

MINSK, 29 September (BelTA) - Belarus needs to develop roadmaps for cooperation with African countries, Head of the Main Directorate of Asia, Africa and Latin America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Igor Bely told the media after the government meeting on 29 September, BelTA has learned.

In his words, the meeting participants coordinated further steps to develop cooperation in the African direction. “We need to work in thee countries where we are welcome. We need to pay visits, hold meetings at the highest possible level and develop roadmaps, look for specific projects that can be implemented. Roadmaps should be approved at the level of the government or the leadership of the country. Then we will have practical results,” Igor Bely stressed.

He outlined the main areas of work on the African continent. “These are medicine, education, ensuring food security of African countries, supply of agricultural machinery, industrial cooperation. Other areas will also be developed,” the representative of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“Our work in Africa is of systemic nature. It is carried out mainly through our foreign offices. Currently, there are five of them – in South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. I hope that in the near future we will expand our presence there. Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies pay regular visits to African countries, looking for new points of growth. We visit not only the countries that are our pillars in Africa but also “unexplored ones”. As for the supply of goods, it depends on the country, its geographical location (whether it has access to the sea), the state of the economy in general and also the state of various industries,” Igor Bely said.

In his words, African countries have been increasingly high on the international cooperation agenda recently. “High level visits as well as commercial activities testify to the fact. Over the past three months, the minister of foreign affairs has taken part in three international events and held more than 20 meetings and talks with representatives of the African continent. Not all the meetings were initiated by our side. Representatives of African countries expressed interest in working with Belarus. They are well aware of the products we produce. They praised our efforts to resist the sanctions pressure in the current difficult times,” the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.